The Best Speeches in Sports Movie History

They're smelly, waterlogged, messy and littered with way too many used jockstraps for comfort.

Luckily, the magic of film makes us forget all of that malarkey.

The field, court or ice may be where champions are born and where legends are crowned, but the silver screen reminds us: Those gross locker rooms are places of inspiration and motivation that bring us to the marvelous point of celebration.

Stars don't just perform out of nowhere. Before Rudy gets a-Rudyin' and the Hoosiers get a-Hoosierin', it takes great words of wisdom to get us there.

Sports films would be nothing without overcoming adversity. Honestly, no one in their right mind wants to watch a story of nothing's happening, right? Watching a real blowout on television is bad enough as it is, after all.

That adversity is met with courage, bravery and fortitude. All are exemplified in these classic sports film speeches—some emotional, some humorous, some angry and some not even told in the setting of a locker room.

All have one thing in common, though: The ability to break down that wall and pull the viewer into the situation, letting us feel that intensity. The perfect storm of great acting, writing and directing all coming together to produce rare movie magic.

Without any further ado, a collective list of these moments. It was going to be a "30 Best Speeches in Sports Movie History," but today you're getting the Baskin Robbins treatment, so 31 you shall have.

Note: Some video clips contain adult language and are NSFW. Clips and slides may contain spoilers.

31. The Replacements: "Pain Heals"

Pretty-boy Keanu Reeves couldn't even stop a bomb-rigged bus from going under 50 mph. It's not out of this world to call his leadership skills on the field into question.

When a strike leads fictional professional football team, the Washington Sentinels, to pick up filler players to play out the season, former college success and pro failure Shane Falco is hired as the team's stopgap quarterback in the interim.

Long story short, it seems literally shocking that a Keanu Reeves football movie should last nearly two hours, but the "duuuude... totally bogus" pep-speech he gives his players in the huddle blends a mild amount of humor and resourcefulness into a key spot in the game.

Well, in this low-brow, gross-out-o-rama, Reynold's character, Van, comes off as the closest to the voice of reason that this not-so-highbrow film is going to produce.

When the easy-going, seven-year college student isn't pulling disgusting and clownish pranks on fellow students, he churns some gold with this comical locker room pep-speech to the school's basketball team.

29. Major League 2: "Winning Streak"

Actor/trainwreck Charlie Sheen annoyingly made "winning!" a minute-long cultural phenomenon last year, but in this locker room, his team sure couldn't say the same.

This speech boils down to simple math for Indians manager Lou Brown as he takes it game-by-game. His gravely voice brimming with restrained positivity and a brief speech about how a team's winning streak can begin with only three simple games.

27. The Sandlot: "Legends Never Die"

Who amongst us can't relate to playing baseball on a beat-up old park field?

When the school bell rang, a group of guys would run home, drop off their bags, grab a mitt and meet up to play. No coaches, no crowd, no pressure, just kids playing the game for the love of it.

That's where The Sandlot really shined. It may have been set in the early 1960s, but it remains relatable to this day.

Before going to bed one night, neighborhood all-star Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez receives a brief inspirational speech in the form of a vision of Babe Ruth. Ruth's encouraging words, "Heroes get remembered, legends never die," inspires Rodriguez to retrieve a lost baseball from the feared neighborhood dog, simply called "The Beast."

26. The Program: "We're Gonna Ring the Bell"

Many people don't remember the early-90s gridiron movie The Program for anything other than the controversial "laying in the middle of the highway scene," which was quickly pulled from the film after teenagers were killed imitating it.

There was also actual football in the movie too, such as this brief testosterone-filled pregame rally from Coach Winters.

The Program isn't a football film classic. It's rarely mentioned in the company of Rudy, Knute Rockne or Any Given Sunday, but make no doubt, its gritty and often ugly portrayal of college football is probably a little more realistic than a lot of us would hope.

25. Cool Runnings: "Pride"

When it was announced that Jamaica would be sending a national bobsled team to compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics, the highly-inexperienced foursome became both a fan-favorite underdog and the butt of many jokes during the Games.

Their infamous crash run in the Calgary Games inspired the early-'90s feel-good comedy Cool Runnings, a snowy, John Candy sleeper hit.

In this scene, bobsledder Junior Bevil, is inspired by teammate Yul Brenner with a "look-at-your-refection," pump-you-up speech, repeating Brenner's words to toughen his spirit.

24. Slap Shot: "Show Us What You Got"

Reggie Dunlop is a player/coach for the Charlestown Chiefs, a perennially-losing hockey team. Not particularly a good player, he works best at conning and manipulating his players.

Dire straits arrive as their hometown is facing the possible closing of the local mill, home to 10,000 employees.

When push comes to shove, Dunlop desperately decides to start the trio of players known as "The Hanson Brothers," three unstable, violent, goofy-looking athletes. Their nasty and aggressive fighting style of play wins over the once-lost fans in the community as an all-out hilarious symphony of dirty playing erupts on the ice.

22. Gridiron Gang: "The Mustang Challenge"

Sean Porter works at a detention center with troubled kids. In order to distance them from the lives of gangs, guns and violence, he starts up a football program.

In a motivational pregame speech, he tells his players that despite where they are, with hard work they could become winners, helping them to realize the value of hard work and dedication—and in turn, the value of themselves.

As opposed to the end of The Tooth Fairy, when the audience asks for their money back.

21. Bull Durham: "I Believe"

Crash Davis, an aging minor league catcher, provides one of the most blatant and upfront speeches in sports film history, if not film history, period.

His thoughts and feelings, said on a whim but spoken with almost a rehearsed quality, Davis' earnestness leaves the usually cool, resident baseball groupie Annie Savoy feeling jelly-legged and vulnerable.

Davis certainly has a point about awful Astroturf and opening gifts Christmas morning, but Costner apparently didn't take Davis' frame of mind on set when filming JFK a few years later.

20. Facing the Giants: "Your Very Best!"

It's a shame that we live in a world where The Fast and the Furious franchise has made almost a billion-and-a-half dollars worldwide, but Facing the Giants never reached a larger audience.

A Christian drama set in the world of high school football, it tells the story of Grant Taylor, coach of the Shiloh Eagles, who has come upon hard times. The town's parents want him out, his car is breaking down and he and his wife are struggling to have children.

To turn things around, he switches to a new philosophy of coaching to achieve success from his students. This particular scene, not as much a speech as an intense motivational exercise, is a moving example of giving your all and achieving more than you thought you were capable of.

19. The Wrestler: "Final Speech"

Year: 2008

Character: Randy "The Ram" Robinson

Played by: Mickey Rourke

Acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky's tale, The Wrestler, is a journey of a past-his-prime wrestling star of yesteryear.

Living in a beat-up trailer, earning minimum wage from an obnoxious boss, frequenting strip clubs and with a frayed relationship with his estranged daughter, things aren't quite what they used to be for "The Ram." His glory days are long past, and he can't recapture them no matter how hard he tries.

In the film's climatic scene, The Ram, facing a potentially fatal heart condition, picks up a microphone in a final moment of grandeur to show his appreciation to the fans, who he feels truly understand him. Knowing of his certain doom, he delivers a poignant and personal eulogy, spilling his barely beating heart to the people who once gave him life.

17. Coach Carter: "You Men Played Like Champions"

When Ken Carter takes over the coaching job of the Richmond High School basketball team, he aims to take the disrespectful and rude group of players and turn them into honest young men with the utmost integrity.

This shocking change in discipline clashes with some players, but eventually Carter's prideful ways help the team work as one.

After a climatic playoff-game loss, Carter approaches his deflated group of players in the locker room and reassures this once-lost bunch that they've earned his pride and respect, that their hard work has paid off, making them all better people with bright futures ahead.

16. Rocky Balboa: "It's About How Hard You Can Get Hit and Keep Moving Forward"

Who would've thought Sylvester Stallone would end up on a "Best Speech" list? One of Sly's trademark is his "sounds like a week-long bender" slur after all, the other being his non-speaking scenes in action-packed films.

Well, Stallone really knocked one out of the park with this life lesson to his son in Rocky Balboa.

When his son Robert blames his personal failures on growing up under his father's shadow, Rocky gives him some worldly and wise fatherly advice about taking responsibility, being strong and coming out on top in a tough world.

Rock's had a lot of hard miles on him over the years and a lot of lessons to hand down, and most of all, he certainly doesn't want his son to be crushed under the weight of life's exceeding pressures.

14. Rudy: " Are You Hearing Me Clear Enough?"

Fan-favorite shrimp, Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger has received the sobering news that he isn't going to suit up with the starting squad at Notre Dame in his senior year.

Feeling like the Irish's unluckiest player, he decides to bid the team "bon voyage" in light of the deflating situation.

His plan doesn't get far, as he's soon set straight by Notre Dame Stadium's janitor, Fortune, who boldly and sternly tells the dejected Rudy that quitting isn't an option, and he should take pride in everything he's worked hard for and achieved in his life.

13. Field of Dreams: "People Will Come"

Farmer Ray Kinsella is increasingly urged to sell his beloved farmland-turned ball-field to support his family and avoid foreclosure.

Recluse author Terrence Mann interrupts with a tale of simpler times, smiling families gathering for the love of the game and a big fat slice of apple-pie-coated Americana, urging Ray to stay put, ensuring "people will come."

James Earl Jones could read a grocery shopping list and it would sound like poetry, but here his famous velvety voice belts out a home run with this heart-touching and sentimental step into the game we love so much.

Sensing the team's imminent failure, Bombay rejuvenates his young players with a motivational locker room speech. Reminding them the importance of integrity and to take pride in their play. After a group chant of "Ducks fly together!" the team, in new Ducks jerseys, step out on to the ice to give it their all.

11. We Are Marshall: "We Cannot Lose!"

In November of 1970, a Southern Airways plane crashed in West Virginia, cutting short the lives of 75 people, including 37 Marshall University football players and members of the coaching staff, crew and athletic department.

Following these tragic events, the Marshall Thundering Herd avoid an indefinite suspension, gathering together a new young group of players to carry on the program.

In an emotional speech given by new coach Jack Lengyel on the resting grounds of the late team members, he inspires his young team to rise above the tragedy and play not only for themselves, but for their fallen teammates.

Culminating with the now-famous "We are Marshall!" roar, it's a sports film moment that's sure to put a lump in your throat.

10. Knute Rockne, All American: "Win One for the Gipper"

"The last thing George said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper."

Listed as the 89th greatest movie quote on AFI's "100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes" list and later used as a political slogan by Ronald Reagan (who portrayed the Gipper in this film), these famous words were said by classic Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne to rally his underdog Irish team to a 12-6 victory over the unbeaten Army team.

9. Pride of the Yankees: "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth"

Hollywood, in all its glitz and glimmer, could try for years and never come close to touching the emotional depth of Lou Gehrig's 1939 farewell speech to a packed Yankee Stadium on a July 4 afternoon.

That being said, Gary Cooper's portrayal of Gehrig in the time-honored Pride of the Yankees is a heartfelt telling of one of sport's most iconic players. Gehrig was a man well aware of his grim fate, and faced it with bravery and unflinching class.

It all culminates in that famous "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech. No musical soundtrack needed, just the sound of Cooper's shaky, choked-up voice addressing the weeping crowd makes this a no-brainer as a sports-movie classic moment.

In Murray's debut, the admittedly non-sports Meatballs, he plays Tripper Harrison, a camp counselor at the cut-rate Camp North Star.

They take on their rival, Camp Mohawk, a wealthy camp across the lake, in the annual Olympiad events, in which Mohawk is undefeated. After a first-day trouncing, Harrison gathers the demoralized campers in the lodge, rousing the group with a hilarious speech only Bill Murray could deliver, telling them that win or lose—"it just doesn't matter."

Often, films set in the sporting world can inspire us, pull at our heartstrings and make us want to take the world by the throat. On rare occasions, their charm lies in their ability to simply make us laugh.

7. Remember the Titans: "Come Together"

A sports film with so many inspirational sayings and speeches, it was impossible to narrow it down to just one.

Remember the Titans, a quintessential high school gridiron flick, includes intense practice sessions, an emotional speech given by Coach Boone, bombastic huddle chants, a moving and mature locker room monologue from a player and a sideline rally that'll bring the hairs on your neck to attention.

With life lessons and topics that stretch far beyond the playing field, it's a film that inspires in greater ways than just chalkboard X's and O's.

6. Rudy: "Our House"

Short and sweet, this second clip from Rudy is as simple and moving of a speech as could be. Filled with a sense of finality, it speaks to the team, the audience and most importantly, to Rudy himself. This game means everything to him, and this speech only amplifies it.

Coach Devine speaks of taking pride in the grounds you play on and the place you call home. For a program deep in tradition such as Notre Dame, coming in and pushing the Irish around on their own turf will be no easy task, and Devine is going to drill that point home.

Times change, though. In 2012, the plan is to keep your opponents laughing at you on the field instead, hoping to catch a slip-up.

3. Hoosiers: "I Don't Care What the Scoreboard Says"

Norman Dale is the basketball coach for Hickory High School, a small team in a tiny school in a rural town that takes their game seriously.

A rocky road nearly leads to Dale's ousting, but when a rejuvenated Hickory team comes together, they become unstoppable, with production coming even from bench players.

The classic underdog story leads this unlikely team to a state championship game against a rival South Bend squad. Dale's fervent words about taking in the grand scale of the game is a lesson not only for sports, but can be carried into life.

2. Friday Night Lights: "Perfect"

Pretty much, you can set any speech to the beautiful sounds of Explosions in the Sky and it will sound like heaven on film.

In a roller-coaster season, Coach Gaines has lived the peaks and valleys that his high school football team, the Permian Panthers, have faced this season. His job is constantly on the line, his star player is sidelined, his players face tough times at home. But throughout it all, he has coached his team to a much-heralded playoff spot against a powerhouse Dallas team.

In a calm, moving and touching halftime speech, Gaines, a father-figure to many of the boys, explains to his team the power in picking up your brother and playing with all of your heart. He ensures them that perfection doesn't come from scoreboards or wins, it's being able to know you played with integrity and the selflessness that comes with it.

1. Miracle: "Great Moments Are Born in Great Opportunity"

Miracle, the 2004 film adaptation of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team's extraordinary victory over the Soviet team, features arguably the greatest speech in sports cinema.

It minces no words. It's tough, it's intense, it's rooted in reality, making the whole thing all the more moving.

Coach Brooks, knowing his team is David facing a juggernaut Goliath, reminds his players that they can win. The numbers and hype don't account for anything, because this game, these three periods, they belong to his team and they're not giving it up.